James's Account of S. H. Long's Expedition, 1819-1820, part 4

by Edwin James; Stephen H. Long; Thomas Say

Near Harding's ferry, on the south side of White river, is the Chattahoochee mountain,[17] of about two thousand feet elevation, somewhat surpassing any other point in its vicinity. The top of this mountain marks the north-eastern angle of the Cherokee boundary, as established by General Jackson's treaty. The eastern boundary of the tract, ceded by that treaty to the Cherokees, runs in a straight line from the top of the Chattahoochee to the mouth of Point Remove or Eddy Point creek, which enters the Arkansa about thirty miles above Cadron. This line coincides nearly with the eastern limit of the mountainous region. Many small portions of valuable land are included in the territory lately ceded to the Cherokees, but by far the greater part is mountainous and barren, and unfit for cultivation. White river has its source in the Ozark mountains, near the 94th degree of west longitude, and about the 36th degree north latitude, in the same district, from which descend, on the south-west the Illinois river of Arkansa, and on the north the Yungar Fork of the Osage. The average direction of its course is nearly due east parallel to the Arkansa, crossing about four degrees of longitude to its confluence with Black river, in latitude 350° 15´, then turning abruptly south, it flows through 1º 15´ of latitude to its bifurcation, and the confluence of its eastern branch with the Mississippi in 34 degrees north.[18] Below the point where it receives the Black river from the north, and even at the Chattahoochee mountains, near one hundred miles above that point, White river is little inferior, either in the width of its channel, or in its volume of water, to the Arkansa under the same meridian. When we have had occasion to mention among the people of White river, that we {136} had crossed the Arkansa at the Rocky Mountains, more than one thousand miles to the west, the question has been repeatedly put to us, "Where did you cross White river?" Those who have known only the lower portions of both rivers, consider them as nearly of equal length, and as heading near each other; whereas the entire extent of country drained by White river, compared to that of the Arkansa, is as one to six nearly. Three miles above its confluence with the Mississippi, White river divides into two branches, the lesser of which, turning off at right angles, flows south-west, with a current sometimes equal to three miles per hour, and falls into the Arkansa at the distance of four miles and a half. It is said the current flows through this communication alternately to and from the Arkansa, according as the water in that river is higher or lower than in White river. Major Long entered the Arkansa through this cut-off on the 13th of October 1817, and it has been passed more recently by Mr. Nuttall,[19] in 1819. In both these instances the current flowed from White river towards the Arkansa. The mouth of that branch of White river which communicates immediately with the Mississippi is situated fifteen miles above the mouth of the Arkansa,[20] and is about two hundred yards wide. The current is very gentle, and the water deep. Though perfectly transparent, it is of a yellowish colour. The banks are low, and subject to periodical inundations. The soil near the mouth of White river is an intermixture of clay and fine sand, the clay predominating, and the whole of a reddish tinge.

Numerous settlements have heretofore been formed on the lands contiguous to White river, and several in the portion above the Chattahoochee mountain on the south side; but all these lands having by treaty been surrendered to the Cherokees, many whites {137} have been compelled to withdraw, and leave their farms to the Indians. The tract of land ceded to the Indians by the treaty above alluded to, is for the most part rocky and barren. Some of the tributaries of White river have extensive and fertile bottoms, but the greater part of the country watered by this river, is mountainous and unfit for cultivation. At MacNeil's ferry, where the road from Little Rock on the Arkansa to Davidsonville, in Lawrence county, crosses White river, the bottoms are wide, and as fertile as any of those on the Arkansa.[21] Here the miegia and the papaw attain their greatest perfection, and the soil is found well adapted to the culture of corn, cotton, and tobacco. At the point formed by the confluence of White and Black rivers, is a portion of land of a triangular form, and bounded by sides about fifteen miles in extent, which, in the excellence of its soil, as we were informed by the surveyors, is surpassed by none in the western country. There are considerable portions of the upland soil of White river, where the profuse supply of streams and springs of excellent water, the elevation and comparative healthfulness of many situations, and the vicinity of navigable rivers and other local advantages, make amends for the want of exuberant fertility in the soil. The same remark is applicable to the country south of the Arkansa, where are extensive tracts of hilly and rocky soils, which seem admirably adapted to the culture of the vine and the olive. In every part of the Ozark mountains, there are vallies, and small portions of land within the hills, having a deep and fertile soil, covered with heavy forests of oak, ash, hickory, and in some places with the sugar maple, and abounding in excellent water. The labour of a few years will be sufficient to convert these tracts into productive farms, but the inconvenience resulting from the difficulty of communication and access to the different {138} parts of the country, will for a long time retard their settlement.

In several parts of the Arkansa territory we were shewn dollars, which were believed to have been coined in some of the upper settlements of White river; and it has been currently reported, that mines of silver exist, and are wrought there. It appears, however, upon examination, that much spurious coin is here in circulation; and it is probable that the White river country owes its present reputation for mineral wealth to the successful labours of some manufacturer of imitation dollars. Since the time of De Soto, it has been confidently asserted by many who have written concerning Louisiana, that mines of gold and silver exist in that part of the country of which we are speaking. In an old map, by Du Pratz, a gold mine is placed somewhere near the confluence of the Illinois and the Arkansa; a silver mine on the Merameg, and he says, "I myself saw a rivulet whose waters rolled down gold dust."[22] We are informed by Schoolcraft, that granite exists about the sources of the St. Francis, which are near those of White river.[23] Of the extent and character of this formation of granite, we have not yet been able to form any very definite ideas; it is, however, by no means improbable, that to its plates of yellow and white mica, we are to look for the origin of the fabulous accounts of the precious metals in those regions. Like the country of the gilded king, the El Dorado of South America, it is probable the gold and silver mines of the Arkansa territory will recede, before the progress of examination, first into the wildest and most inaccessible parts, and at length disappear entirely. We by no means intend to assert, that the region in question will not prove of immense importance, on account of its mineral treasures; valuable mines of lead and iron are certainly frequent in many parts of it. And we can assign no reason why silver {139} and other metals should not be found in the argillite with quartzy veins, and in the other rocks of the transition period, which we know to exist in these mountains. We only intend to give it as our opinion, that there has as yet been no foundation in actual discovery for the belief that such mines do exist.

The bed of White river, at the place where we crossed it, is paved with pebbles and fragments of a yellowish white petrosiliceous stone, intermixed with rounded masses of transparent quartz, and sometimes with pieces of calcedony. Its water is uncommonly transparent, and this, with the whiteness of its bed, and the brisk motion of the current, gives it an aspect of unusual beauty. The banks are high, and in many places not exposed to inundation. Dense and heavy forests of sycamore and cotton-wood stretch along the river, disclosing here and there, at distant intervals, the solitary hut and the circumscribed clearing of the recent settler. Some who have been no more than two or three years resident upon their present farms, and who commenced in the unbroken forests, have now abundant crops of corn and pumpkins, with large fields of cotton, which is said to equal in quality that of the uplands of Georgia and Carolina. Few attempts have hitherto been made to cultivate any grain, except Indian corn, though the soil is thought to be in many places well adapted to wheat, barley, oats, &c. The maize cultivated in the Arkansa territory, and in the southern and western states, generally is the variety called the ground seed, having a long and compressed kernel, shrivelled at the end when fully ripe; and crops are not uncommon yielding from sixty to ninety bushels per acre. In all the uplands, the prevailing growth is oak. At the time of our journey, the acorns were falling in such quantities, that the ground for an extent of many acres was often seen almost covered with them. Many recent settlers, indulging the disposition to indolence which seizes upon almost every man who {140} fixes his residence in these remote forests, place as much dependence upon the crop of mast as on the products of their own industry. Vast numbers of swine are suffered to range at large in the forests, and in the fall of the year, when they have become fat by feeding on the acorns, they are hunted and killed like wild animals, affording to the inhabitants a very important article of subsistence. It is remarked also, that the venison becomes fat somewhat in proportion as acorns are abundant. Turkeys, which are still vastly numerous in the settlements of White river, feed upon them, but are said to grow poor in consequence.

Sweet potatoes[24] are produced in great perfection in many parts of the Arkansa territory, and are but too much cultivated and eaten, their constant use as an article of food being little beneficial to health. The common or Irish potatoe, as it is here universally called, succeeds but indifferently, and few attempts are made to cultivate it.

A few of the roads which traverse the country from the Mississippi to the upper settlements of Red river and the Arkansa, have been sufficiently opened to admit the passage of waggons. On these are seen many families migrating from Missouri to Red river, and from Red river to Missouri. The first settlements in the wilderness are most commonly made by persons to whom hardihood and adventure have become confirmed and almost indispensable habits, and who choose to depend upon the chase, and the spontaneous products of the unreclaimed forest, rather than submit to the confinement and monotony of an agricultural life. They are therefore, of necessity, kept somewhat in advance of those settlers who intend a permanent residence in the situations they first occupy. Removing from place to place with their cattle, horses, and swine, they confine themselves {141} to one spot no longer than the range continues to afford a sufficient supply of the articles most necessary to life. When the canes are fed down and destroyed, and the acorns become scarce, the small corn-field and the rude cabin are abandoned, and the squatter goes in search of a place where all the original wealth of the forest is yet undiminished. Here he again builds his hut, removes the trees from a few acres of land, which supplies its annual crop of corn, while the neighbouring woods, for an extent of several miles, are used both as pasture and hunting grounds. Though there is in this way of life an evident tendency to bring men back to a state of barbarism, we have often met among the rudest of the squatters with much hospitality and kindness. Near White river, we called at a house to purchase food for ourselves and our horses, but having no silver money, our request was refused, although we offered the notes of the bank of Missouri, then in good credit. In a few miles we arrived at another cabin, where we found every member of the numerous family sick with the ague and fever, except one young girl. But here they were willing to furnish every refreshment their house afforded. There were at this time very few houses, particularly in the settlements about White river, which did not exhibit scenes of suffering similar to those in the one of which we were now the reluctant guests. We have seen some instances, where, of a family of eight or ten, not a single individual was capable of attending to the services of the household, or of administering to the wants of his suffering relatives. In these instances we thought it better to pitch our tents at a little distance, and intrude ourselves no farther than was necessary to procure corn and other indispensable supplies.

On the evening of September 30th, we halted at a little rivulet called Bayou Curæ.[25] The dwelling of our landlord consisted, as is commonly the case in the new settlements, of a single room, with beds in {142} two or three of the corners. We were cordially invited to make use of the beds, though it would have been at the expence of rendering it necessary for our host, his wife, and daughters, to sleep upon the floor of the same room. We accordingly spread our blankets, and deposited ourselves around the hearth, while the family occupied their usual stations. On the first of October we arrived at the ford of Strawberry river, a tributary entering the Big Black, not far from the confluence of the latter with White river, and about fourteen miles beyond, at the ford of Spring river, a parallel stream. Both of these are rapid and beautiful rivers, possessing all the peculiarities, as to the abundance, transparency, and purity of their waters, usually observed in those rivers which traverse elevated and mountainous districts. The entire length of Spring river is said to be but about one hundred and forty miles; yet in the quantity of water which it discharges, it more than twice exceeds the Canadian, having a course of more than nine hundred miles. It is said to have its principal source in a spring of uncommon magnitude. Spring river unites with another, called Eleven Point, near the little town of Davidsonville, the seat of justice for Lawrence county, and flows thence nearly due east, two or three miles to its junction with Big Black. The country around Davidsonville is hilly, having a deep and fertile primary soil, and abounding in heavy forests. The sources of Eleven Point, we have been told, are in eleven large springs, and are near those of Spring river.[26]

To those who have been long accustomed to the thirsty regions of the Missouri, the Platte, and the Upper Arkansa, it is somewhat surprising to meet in tracts, having nearly the same elevation, and resting to a great extent on rocks of a similar character, so great a number of large streams crowded into such narrow compass.

{143} Is it not probable, that a large portion of the water falling in rains upon the extensive plains at the eastern side of the Rocky Mountains, may sink through the loose and porous soil, till at length, meeting with some compact stratum, it may be collected into rills, and even considerable streams, which, descending along the surface of this stratum in the direction of the general inclination of the country, at length meet with the nucleus of the Ozark mountains, traversing the secondary strata like a mineral dike, and are consequently made to appear in the form of large springs? Whether any course of this kind operates to supply the unusual profusion of water with which this hilly tract is irrigated, must be for others to decide. The fact is an established one.